2931R.2W 2nd blue Walsall MRIL M12L Self-adh coil 2012

Product Details

LOC: .: 2011-12Country: Great Britain

Product Description

Stamps with security features were first issued on 17 February 2009. No coils were issued.

Coils of 10,000 intended for mailing houses were produced in 2009, 2010 and possibly 2011. Royal Mail refused to issue these through the Philatelic Bureau or Dealer Accounts and thus they were not distributed by them singly or in strips to collectors. A number is usually printed on the backing paper on every 10th stamp, but that is not the case with these Walsall printings.

2nd class blue Machin self-adhesive security stamp from coils 2012 version was originally printed by Enschede with year code MA12. (This is listed as 2931R.2 while we have stock.)

In January 2014 a second printing was found printed by Walsall with codes M12L and MRIL with no numbering on the reverse.

Original printing now only available as an unnumbered folded strip of 10Available as a single unnumbered stamp or a strip of 5

On 31 July 2014 Royal Mail made a new version of the coil available, this time with a number on the reverse of every 10th stamp. On our supplies of the new stamps, the iridescent layer appears to be yellower than on the originals.

We have the new printing available as single unnumbered, numbered strip of 5, or folded strip of 10 numbered.

Stanley Gibbons catalogue mentions the 2010 version only in a footnote as they were only available to business mailers, despite the fact that hundreds of collectors have used copies in their collections. As the 2009 versions - not on sale at Post Offices - are included in the catalogue (2nd class U2946, 1st class 2950), it is to be hoped that a catalogue number may be allocated to this 2012 stamp.